Grade the Bengals Draft

[WVRed]

Title says it all.

I'm going with B. For the value of the picks, you can't criticize Marvin. Leon Hall, Jonathan Joseph, and Madieu Williams is going to make up a very lights out secondary hopefully by the end of the year. I wasn't too thrilled with the Irons pick at first, but with the average lifespan of running backs in the league, it may be time to consider life after Rudi. However, I think Ahmad Brooks in the third round is better than anybody who was available at that time.

While I give all the praise, the Bengals did not address the front seven until the seventh round unless you count Ahmad Brooks, and he was there last year. The team will be significantly better next year because of the schedule, but as Cedric said in the NFL Draft thread, they will not win many games in the playoffs.

A for the value of the picks, C for not filling needs.

[dsmith421]

I'm saying C, because the team has done very little to shore up the defensive front seven. Even assuming status quo on offense, this team is likely to be top 6 in yardage and points. Addressing the third-worst defense in the NFL should have been priority 1, 2, and 3, and the club has not acquired a single difference-maker in free agency and did not improve the front seven at all in the draft.

All in all, the Bengals continue to have a nice little team but with the strides forward Baltimore and New England have made, they are as far from the Super Bowl as they were in Marvin's first year.

[Cedric]

Until the Bengals shore up their defensive front four they are just pretenders. It's something Marvin Lewis refuses to adress in the draft.

[guttle11]

Originally Posted by Cedric

Until the Bengals shore up their defensive front four they are just pretenders. It's something Marvin Lewis refuses to adress in the draft.

Who did you want them to take? Jarvis Moss was taken right before them in round 1, and Woodley and Harris in round 2.

They got a guy widely viewed as top ten quality at 18. That's great value. You HAVE to take him. There were no highly rated defensive guys left when they picked Irons. Ahmad Brooks was their 3rd round pick, with 1st round potential and a year of experience... Then come round 4 you start taking the best player available on your board.

And I'm not sure you mean by refusing to address the front seven in the draft. Pollack, Thurman, Geathers, Brooks, I might be missing one or two. Some picks work out, some don't for various reasons. To say he refuses to addresses it is kinda silly IMO.

BTW, I gave this draft a B. They obviously believe the QB they took will be a good backup in a year, and I like the saftey they got, too. Sort of ho-hum, but I think 2, 3, 4 years down the road this will be a solid class for them.

[UKFlounder]

Originally Posted by Cedric

It's something Marvin Lewis refuses to adress in the draft.

Or in free agency.

Or by trades.

[pedro]

I honestly don't know.

[Danny Serafini]

I gave it a D. I'm not a Leon Hall fan, he got torched in big games last year. The Kenny Irons pick was absurd. Terrible first day. Maybe something will come of the second day guys to salvage this draft, but at first glance it looks to be Lewis' worst draft as coach.

[Cedric]

Originally Posted by guttle11

Who did you want them to take? Jarvis Moss was taken right before them in round 1, and Woodley and Harris in round 2.

They got a guy widely viewed as top ten quality at 18. That's great value. You HAVE to take him. There were no highly rated defensive guys left when they picked Irons. Ahmad Brooks was their 3rd round pick, with 1st round potential and a year of experience... Then come round 4 you start taking the best player available on your board.

And I'm not sure you mean by refusing to address the front seven in the draft. Pollack, Thurman, Geathers, Brooks, I might be missing one or two. Some picks work out, some don't for various reasons. To say he refuses to addresses it is kinda silly IMO.

BTW, I gave this draft a B. They obviously believe the QB they took will be a good backup in a year, and I like the saftey they got, too. Sort of ho-hum, but I think 2, 3, 4 years down the road this will be a solid class for them.

I said front four. I couldn't care less about linebackers. They are a dime a dozen in this league.

Pollack, Thurman, and Brooks were all LB's. Geathers was a 6th round pick and a lucky hit.

Marvin refuses to upgrade the most important position on his defense and I have no clear idea why.

[Joseph]

I'm a C- rater.

Hall I like, nothing else do I like though

[HotCorner]

Originally Posted by Cedric

I said front four. I couldn't care less about linebackers. They are a dime a dozen in this league.

Pollack, Thurman, and Brooks were all LB's. Geathers was a 6th round pick and a lucky hit.

Marvin refuses to upgrade the most important position on his defense and I have no clear idea why.

Upgrade with whom?

Geathers a lucky hit? To quote Ozzie Guillen, "please."

[Yachtzee]

I think they did well. Marvin's been pretty good at spotting talent in the upper rounds, even if it did come with character or injury problems. The character issues could have been avoided, but you can't predict injuries. I suspect everyone drafted on the second day were more likely special teams picks. As far as not addressing the DLine. I would have liked to have seen them pick up a DL, but if there isn't a quality guy available at their pick, I'd rather they didn't reach for a guy they weren't sold on just to fill a need. That's how busts are made.

[dsmith421]

[QUOTE=Yachtzee;1324501I would have liked to have seen them pick up a DL, but if there isn't a quality guy available at their pick, I'd rather they didn't reach for a guy they weren't sold on just to fill a need. That's how busts are made.[/QUOTE]

Marvin was discussing the Irons pick the other day and noted that Harris and Woodley, two guys they "coveted", were off the board by the time that the Bengals picked, so they had no real choice.

Successful franchises don't make those excuses--they either put together a creative solution to move up to get the guy they covet, or they trade down and focus their energies on depth. The way NE has rebuilt their WR corps this year is a textbook example of how a good franchise addresses an obvious deficiency.

The Bengals, as of yet, have not improved the 30th ranked defense in the NFL, a defense that has been directly responsible for their shortcomings down the stretch the past two seasons. When you have a porous D-line, it makes everyone's job harder. Extending Geathers and signing Smith is a start, but it still doesn't address the fact that our defensive tackles are among the worst in the league. Signing Michael Myers doesn't change that. They needed to cut Thornton and pursue the best DT talent available, whether through FA or the draft. They didn't do so.

As of right now, with Bresnahan running the defense and terrible DTs, I see nothing to convince me that our defense will be anything even approaching average next year.

[Cedric]

Originally Posted by HotCorner

Upgrade with whom?

Geathers a lucky hit? To quote Ozzie Guillen, "please."

Over the years they have had countless chances to upgrade the front four and he hasn't yet. It's the most important position on the field and yet he goes for Carl Powell and Bryan Robinson type players. Just dumb, IMO.

How is drafting someone in the 6th round not a lucky hit? Marvin has shown over the years that he doesn't value the front four like he should.

[Cedric]

Originally Posted by dsmith421

Marvin was discussing the Irons pick the other day and noted that Harris and Woodley, two guys they "coveted", were off the board by the time that the Bengals picked, so they had no real choice.

Successful franchises don't make those excuses--they either put together a creative solution to move up to get the guy they covet, or they trade down and focus their energies on depth. The way NE has rebuilt their WR corps this year is a textbook example of how a good franchise addresses an obvious deficiency.

The Bengals, as of yet, have not improved the 30th ranked defense in the NFL, a defense that has been directly responsible for their shortcomings down the stretch the past two seasons. When you have a porous D-line, it makes everyone's job harder. Extending Geathers and signing Smith is a start, but it still doesn't address the fact that our defensive tackles are among the worst in the league. Signing Michael Myers doesn't change that. They needed to cut Thornton and pursue the best DT talent available, whether through FA or the draft. They didn't do so.

As of right now, with Bresnahan running the defense and terrible DTs, I see nothing to convince me that our defense will be anything even approaching average next year.

Dead on. The excuses are getting old. Without a major trade the Bengals cannot compete with this Dline. The window in this league is VERY small and the Bengals are letting it slip because of excuse after excuse.

[guttle11]

Originally Posted by Cedric

I said front four. I couldn't care less about linebackers. They are a dime a dozen in this league.

Pollack, Thurman, and Brooks were all LB's. Geathers was a 6th round pick and a lucky hit.

Marvin refuses to upgrade the most important position on his defense and I have no clear idea why.

He doesn't try to improve the line, yet Geathers was a "lucky" hit. You're not thinking clearly for some reason. That makes no sense. Was Geathers assigned to them or something? Using your logic, Carson Palmer was a "lucky hit". Marvin scouted and drafted Geathers because he knew he could play.

Just saying "front four" is flawed. The thing they lack most is a pass rush, which includes linebackers and defensive ends for the most part. The ends were fine last year. The tacles were eating blockers, they were just playing with backup and/or hurt LBs. But Marvin doesn't try...right.

Pollack and Thurman were developing into well above average players, but have been forced off the field due to issues out of anyone's control (except for Thurman himself). Brooks should have been in college last year, but I'm guessing he learned a lot. Time will tell if he's good enough.